Imagine if you went to the door of a private club, rapped on the
door three times, and were confronted by a bulldog of a doorman who
demanded proof of membership. You explain that you're really
not a member, but you've got this great cufflink-and-tie-clip
set that you know the members would love, and you only want a few
minutes inside to share your wonderful product with them. Chances
are, like in a Daffy Duck cartoon, the slamming door would smash
you flat in the face.

So you retreat behind a rock to develop a different strategy for
getting inside. The next time you walk up to the door, you're
arm-in-arm with a club member who describes you as a business
associate he would like to introduce to the other members.
You're ushered in, the member introduces you to others and
tells them about your product . . . and you sell quite a few
cufflinks and tie clips.

There's a message in this scenario for the direct mailer who
wants to get solicitations past the "doorman," the
assistant/secretary/receptionist who stands between you and your
prospective buyer. Have the mailing sent from someone totally
separate from your business-a surrogate-so it's not immediately
identifiable as a solicitation. Then, once it's under the nose
of the decision maker, the letter's writer endorses your
product or service.

Regular readers will remember I brought up this approach in my
March 1996 column, referring to it then as the "Trojan
Horse" that sneaks your promotion through the gates of the
"enemy" (the junk-mail tossing receptionist) to the
intended recipient. Readers responded so well to this approach, I
thought I'd give it another go when an appropriate situation
came up. And, sure enough, Darlene Sturman, a Yardville, New
Jersey, entrepreneur who wrote recently, has just the kind of
marketing problem this technique might solve.

Sturman co-owns Aquariums 'R Us, an aquarium sales and
maintenance company specializing in businesses such as doctors'
and dentists' offices and restaurants or the reception areas of
other companies. She's been sending some low-key sales letters
to promote her services to her prime markets, and results have been
dismal. Judging from Sturman's letter, it's pretty clear
the mailings are getting stopped at the receptionists' desks.
"When I make follow-up calls," writes Sturman, "the
screener usually says, 'He or she will call if interested.'
"

So let's talk about how to get past the screener with a
compelling surrogate sales pitch to the target audience.

Doctor To Doctor

To her credit, Sturman already accompanies her letters to her
target audience with a sheet of three substantive testimonials. But
my idea, of course, is to make her entire sales presentation a
testimonial. That is, I would make arrangements with one of her
existing doctor or dentist customers to send a letter written on
his or her letterhead on Sturman's behalf. (By
"arrangements" I mean offering the surrogate a year's
worth of free aquarium maintenance in return for his or her
endorsement-if the promotion proves to be a winner.) Here's how
the letter would start off:

"Dear Colleague,

"Have you ever had a goldfish
'assistant'?

"I have, and I recommend it.

"I'm referring to the aquarium full of goldfish I
have in my waiting room that truly 'assists' me in making
little patients more relaxed . . . and easier to deal with when
they get into my chair.

"This has been my experience with the great aquarium I
had set up by a woman named Darlene Sturman of Aquariums 'R
Us.

"I'm writing this letter on her behalf because
I'm convinced an aquarium is a great patient-soother and living
artwork combined . . . and therefore I told Darlene I'd be
happy to help her spread theword about her
services." (See the complete letter in the
"After" illustration above.)

If Sturman was writing to a restaurateur, I might recommend a
letter from another restaurateur and Sturman client-under the
restaurant's letterhead-that started this way:

"Dear Fellow Restaurateur,

"Have you ever served up tigerfish?

"I recommend it . . . it brings in customers.

"I'm referring to an aquarium of tropical tigerfish
or other varieties to draw attention in your restaurant. Parents
love the one I have because it keeps the kids occupied and out of
trouble while we're preparing their food. And, of course, kids
love it because it's fascinating and fun.

"Frankly, I love it because the kids don't bang
silverware, tip over glasses and run through the aisles nearly as
much as they used to before I got the aquarium.

"So, because I have had this very positive experience
with an aquarium, I agreed to help the woman who sold it to me (and
also maintains it) spread the word. Her name is Darlene Sturman . .
. ."

There you have two examples of the possibilities of getting a
customer to do your selling for you by way of an endorsement
letter. Whether you are in the aquarium business, sell auto parts
or have a computer consulting company, you can improve response to
your direct-mail solicitations with a surrogate sales letter.
It's also key that the letter be mailed in an envelope with the
surrogate's business name on it because if, in this case, it
showed the Aquariums 'R Us logo, it would defeat the whole
purpose and get tossed in the recycling bin without even being
read.

You might even type "For Georgia Wagner Only" in the
bottom left-hand corner of the envelope to keep the screener from
automatically ripping open the envelope if he or she typically
sniffs out every piece of mail. I wouldn't use the traditional
"Personal and Confidential" because if the letter is
really not of a confidential nature, it will anger the reader.

Testing, Testing

The smartest way to test the idea of a surrogate-written letter
is to compare it with a traditional letter approach. In direct
marketing, this is called an "A-B split." You take a
portion of your mailing list and send out a letter written by
you-labeled with a small "A" in one corner-and then, to
an equal number of names, mail a letter written by a surrogate,
with a "B" printed in one corner. When people start
responding, ask them which letter they received-A or B. After
getting several responses, you'll get an idea of which letter
did best, and you'll mail the winning letter to future
prospects.

In Sturman's case, I'd recommend she take the time to
improve her current letter a bit to give it a little more intrigue
and a better chance before testing it against the endorser-written
letter. To that end, I'd suggest she change her headline to
read, "The Anesthetic in Your Waiting Room." It should
also be positioned farther away from her letterhead than the
current headline is. The revised letter would start,

"Dear Doctor,

"How can you calm kids down before you work on
them?

"More and more dentists are revealing that their secret
weapon is . . . an aquarium . . . ."

I'll bet my money the surrogate's letter will win. But,
if no surrogate is willing to be party to this promotion (which
could happen), Sturman will still have a solid letter to help her
fish for new business.

Contact Source

Jerry Fisher is a freelance advertising copywriter and
welcomes submissions to this column, although he regrets he cannot
answer each individually. For information on his new manual,
Creating Successful Small Business Advertising, send a
self-addressed, stamped envelope to"Advertising
Workshop," Entrepreneur, 2392 Morse Ave., Irvine, CA
92614, or contact Jerry viaCompuServe at 73150,132 or
America Online at Jerry 228.